KinderConcert

Last night was Carley's first school performance. There are four Kindergarten classes in her school, two morning and two afternoon, and all four performed together.

She was extremely excited to have her family come and watch her sing with the rest of the classes. Yet every time I asked her what songs she was singing, she couldn't remember.


Her class is on the right side of the risers. She is in the second row from the bottom. Spot her?




Here she is yawning. It was a few songs in and I guess she'd lost the excitement.


We all really enjoyed watching her show. Josh even enjoyed it. It was his first time getting to sit in the audience and watch his sister.

The Kindergarteners always pull in the biggest crowds.

Video clip from the first song:


A few of the outtakes:

52 Week Photo Project

One of my favorite photo sites is Flickr. It's what I use to upload and post pictures here on the blog because the pictures come through much clearer and more colorful than if I upload through Blogger, which uses Picasa.

On Flickr I'm part of a group (I know of the girls in the group from another site, Cafemom, that I frequent) where members are taking pictures of themselves with their children for the whole year. One picture each week for 52 weeks.

The kids and I are currently on week four but haven't taken a photo yet.


This is our first. I had to bribe the kids to take a quick photo with me. They hated it.


The next week I implored them to come up with an idea of their own. Josh picked laying on the floor.


This is last week, our third week. It was my birthday and I love birthday balloons. After lunch with my friend, Wendy, we walked to the park with balloons and shot a few pictures. It's currently my favorite of the three photos.

The balloon photo was taken not too long after I gave myself whiplash by falling down while walking backwards to take a photo.


This photo.

Isn't that ridiculous? Whiplash from falling?

Thankfully I wasn't hurt too bad (maybe it was the margaritas I'd had over lunch in celebration of my birthday) and I managed to save my camera. When my foot hit the overturned trash can laying along the street and I started to fall, my first instinct was to catch myself but I quickly realized my camera was in my hand. My camera! I tucked in my arm protecting my out-of-warranty camera, landed on my elbow which caused my head to "whip" back and bounce off the concrete. So hard in fact that my sunglasses flew off.

It really sounds awful but was quiet humorous especially when Wendy, Josh and Carley were picking leaves out of my hair. The leaf picking came after everyone, including me, had a good laugh. I came out of it feeling fine, that is until I had a stiff and sore neck later that night. It's been a week and I've regained most of my movement and don't have much soreness but sheesh... whiplash.

As far as the 52 Week Photo Project, I will continue to occasionally post the pictures we take here but you can also check my 52/52 Set on Flickr by clicking here. I'm looking forward to seeing how we and our pictures change over the course of the year.

The Sabbatical Update

A week long without the computer (other than quick email and bank balance checks) gave me lots of extra time to enjoy other things in my life. I finished reading Alive, which is an amazing story of survival. (That makes seven books I've read over break. Now time to hit the text books again.) I kept the house more straightened than usual. I played games with the kids. And I spent more time being creative.

I've been wanting a camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag, one that is more comfortable to carry. The price of cute yet functional bags is outrageous and I don't have the money to spend on that so I decided to make one.


I bought an Old Navy messenger bag at a thrift store for $2.50, fabric for $2 and I already had batting that I used for padding.


After taking out the original liner and using it as a pattern, I sewed together a new, partial liner with sections and padding. I sewed it all back together and viola, new camera bag. It's very comfortable and easy to carry and cute! All for $4.50 and a day's work.


These pictures were taken with my old Canon point-and-shoot. I can believe the difference in the quality of pictures. I'm really happy with my Nikon DSLR.


Feeling creative, I worked with an idea that was in the back of my head. I made a three dimensional, mixed media, under water picture. I really have no idea where this idea came fun and the picture is kind of cheesy but still cute.


Although I've been waiting for fog to take morning mist pictures, it doesn't really fog according to my schedule. One morning after dropping the kids at school and with no other obligations, I went to the American River and took some pictures just for fun. I really enjoyed being outside and (somewhat) getting past the "are people looking at me?" fear I have.


All in all it was a great week away from the computer's pull.

I Watched

This was the day.


On November 4th, I voted.


Today, I watched.

Historical. Change. Hope. Just a few words that come to mind.

Happy Birthday To Me

It's my birthday and I'm back! It's been a nice week having a break from the Internet. I'll update about that later.

Today the kids are out of school because of Martin Luther King Day but Walt is working so we mostly celebrated my birthday yesterday.


Carley and I made red velvet cupcakes.


We went to McKinnley park in Sacramento. It's a nice treat for the kids because it's an old wooden playground.


It was such a nice day. Walt and I just lounged on a blanket while the kids played... or came over to lounge with us.


For dinner Walt and I had take-out sushi.


Mmmm. My favorite.


Of course for the silly picture the focus fell on the phone. D'oh.


And these are my birthday toes. I got a pedicure with my friend, Molly, who moved a couple hours away from me this summer. Girls feel pretty with pretty toes.

Today the kids and I are going to have lunch with my friend, Wendy. Carley keeps wishing me "happy birthday". After a big birthday hug she stepped back, looked me up and down and said "you even look bigger." Thanks kid.

Initially I had a little panic about being 35 but I think I'm past it. Wow. 35!? I think it's going to be a good year though. Ready or not, I'm 35.

Sabbatical

It's official. This is the very last week that I'm 34. Exactly one week from today I'll be 35. Almost pushing middle-aged according to my book. And that is one of the reasons I've decided to take a break from the Internet. Just for this week.

Truly I was inspired by a post on Shutter Sisters called Jump Start. I too am inspired by what I see on Flickr or blogs and I too am in a creative slump. As this post sat in the back of my head, I started thinking that I spend so much time on the computer, whether online or fiddling with photos, that I'm not out living my life to the fullest. And by not living my life each day, I've lost some of my inner creativity.

Too often I'm inspired by what I see and feel like I can only try to create what I've seen others create. I rarely have an "ah-ha" moment of my own or try to create something out of my head. That is what this week will be about, being inspired by my own life and what I have rather than by what others do or have.

So. I'm taking a sabbatical. See you in a week.

Only 7 days. Only 168 hours. Only 10080 minutes. I'll be counting.

Nature Walk

On New Years Day with the kids at a friends house, Walt suggested he and I take a walk near the American River in a local nature preserve. We did and although it was very cold outside, the air and beauty was refreshing. We saw many deer, 18 in one group, and a jack rabbit.

This weekend is sunny and a little warmer than last week. We decided to take the kids to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center and along the nature preserve trails that back it. We didn't see as many deer this time but there were still plenty out grazing in the sun. We also saw quite a few wild turkeys. It was so nice to be out enjoying the sun with the kids. They really enjoyed the walk and seeing the wild animals. Walt and Josh even took over the camera.


We haven't been to Effie Yeaw Nature Center in a very long time and it's a lot cooler than I remember. This is Josh with the wingspan of a California Condor. I don't think I've ever seen one. I'd sure love to.


This is a Saw-whet Owl that is in the center. They also have a Great Horned Owl. I find both are so stunning.


The beginning of our walk. Josh spotted some deer up ahead.


Aww. We could get pretty close before they would run away. This is taken with a zoom lens and cropped in though.


Can you see the buck? I learned from Walt that bucks are more timid or "smarter" as he said and stay farther away from humans. We rarely see any on these nature walks.


Why did the turkey cross the road? To get to the other side! Bwah-ha-ha. (I crack myself up.)


I rarely get a chance to be in front of the camera.


It's because I behave poorly.

"New" Bed

Back when the kids shared a room, Josh had a loft bed. It wasn't quite as tall as a bunk bed yet way taller than a regular bed. When we moved Josh into his own bedroom, which used to be the office/guest room, I had the bright idea to cut down his bed to a normal height and paint it something cooler than white.

Well. That was a couple years ago, maybe only a year and half if I'm conservative. Mainly the hang-up was that I had crappy paint that I didn't want to use and I've found I'm awful with a brush and a smooth surface. This whole time he's had a mattress on the floor. He never minded.


Walt talked me into spending $20 to get spray paint. It works much better! Finally I painted the bed this weekend.


Walt put it together Monday when the paint was dry. Finally Josh has a new bed.


Josh loves his camouflage bed in his flame orange room.


There's even a small ding already! I have to take a deep breath and get over it.

Looking Back

Wow. 2008 is over already!? That's still hard for me to grasp. 2008 was a great year.

2008 was the first year I was home full time with my family. No more weekend job for me! We've been able to experience more together without Walt or I needing to take time off of work. It has given us the time to go new places as a family or just stay home and be lazy on the weekends.

2008 was the first year owning my camera. I've learned a lot about photography and how to utilize my camera over the year but I know that I've just scratched the surface. It's something I'd like to continue improving on.

Between more weekend time and new camera, I managed to take an ungodly amount pictures over the year. I'd like to share a few favorite places and pictures as I look back.


Carley started a tap and ballet class, which she continues to enjoy.


Over Spring Break, I took the kids to Stinson Beach for the first time. We absolutely loved it.


I had the opportunity to photograph our friend's motorcycle race and learned I love sports photography. I hope I get the chance to do this again.


I took a girlfriends-only trip to Florida. It's so beautiful on the Gulf beach there.


We took an overnight trip to Caleveras County where we visited Caleveras Big Trees.


On the same trip we visited Columbia, an old Gold Rush town.


Of course there was water fun during the hot summer. We visited the lake, the river and a few swimming pools.


We went camping for the second year in a row with Shelly and Nick.


My mom, the kids and I did a camping (yurt) road trip up the Oregon Coast.


We went to Washington for my sister's wedding.


Walt was able to hunt, a lot, but unfortunatly wasn't able to bring home the prize. Next year.


And I got a pretty decent family portrait. We have very few pictures of all of us together.

Bye-bye 2008.